How Boston beat Minnesota to win Game 1 of PWHL Finals

Source: The New York Times
Author: Hailey Salvian

LOWELL, Mass. -- After all the talk about the goalie duel heading into the PWHL Finals, Game 1 on Sunday night was the highest-scoring game of the postseason.

Boston won the game 4-3, thanks in part to a massive three-goal second period. Defender Jess Healey scored the game-winner, just her second goal of the season. Aerin Frankel made 30 saves on 33 shots, including 13 in the third period to seal her fourth-straight win of the playoffs.

The series opener was a major change from the low-scoring semifinals between Boston and Montreal -- the highest score in that series was the 3-2 overtime win in Game 3 -- and Toronto vs. Minnesota, although to a lesser extent.

Sunday night was only the third time -- in the regular season or playoffs -- that Boston scored four goals.

After two goals were scored before the midway point of the first period, it was clear we'd see more offense in Game 1 than we had at times in the semifinals.

But five goals scored in the second period alone? That was a surprise, to say the least. Especially considering Maddie Rooney and Aerin Frankel each came into the game with sub-one goals against averages. The most goals against Frankel allowed in the semifinals was two. Rooney, meanwhile, only let in two goals in four starts.

Between Taylor Heise's first goal, and Jess Healey's goal to make it 4-3, there were five goals in just over nine minutes. That would outscore six of the eight semifinal games, and would match the scoring in the other two.

Things regulated in the third period, with Rooney and Frankel stopping all 20 shots on goal. Was this game a fluke? Or are we in for a high-scoring Finals? I guess we'll find out in Game 2, on Tuesday night.

Heise was the X-factor in the semifinals, scoring the series-clinching goal in Game 5 against Toronto. And her fingerprints were all over the first game of the Finals for Minnesota.

First, she made an unbelievable backhand, no-look pass to Michela Cava to set up the opening goal. That's the kind of high-skill play Heise can make when she's playing with confidence. She has elite hands and vision and loves making plays just like the one she made to Cava.

One of the highlights of Heise's game is her shot, which we didn't see much of during a lengthy cold spell. After scoring three goals in her first three PWHL games, Heise only scored once in 16 games heading into the postseason. She didn't get on the board in the first four semifinal games against Toronto, but came up big when it mattered. And scored two goals in the second period of Game 1 of the Finals.

Heise now has four goals and five points in her last two games. Minnesota might not have gotten the win on Sunday night, but Heise's getting her groove back is a really good sign.

Healey, a third-pair defender for Boston, was the unlikely hero in Game 1.

She only played 9:13 minutes in the game behind the top two pairs, but Healey came up big in the second period. Fifteen seconds after Heise scored her second of the game, Healey sent a shot in from the point that appeared to deflect off a Minnesota skater.

It was just her second goal of the season -- and first since March 6 -- and it would stand as the game-winner. Factor in Taylor Wenczkowski's second-period goal to tie the game 2-2 early in the second period and it was yet another impressive game by Boston's bottom-of-the-lineup players. Three of Boston's goals came from three of four forward lines, giving Boston the kind of depth that could be hard to beat as the series goes on.